


La Cantina

by junkknight



Category: Carnaval De Cuentos
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 08:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9596762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junkknight/pseuds/junkknight
Summary: The AU in which Benjamin hunts vampires and Ezequiel is far beyond done with his brother's crap.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be split into three parts. But as always, I turned into a lazy fuck. If y'all want more comment "Give me some more vampire au BITCH" down below. Enjoy.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Ben.”

Pants were zipped and a chuckle escaped from Benjamin’s kiss-swollen lips.

“Regretting me already?” He asked as he pulled a black t-shirt over skin that still wore a thin layer of sweat.

The cramped bathroom was too small for the both of them. Or anyone for that matter. And it stunk heavily of cheap detergent. Artificial orange zest.

Benjamin nudged the man aside and claimed the rusty sink, praying for clean water. He turned the knobs and after two sputters his prayers were answered.

“I’m talking about your brother.” The man’s voice was gravelly; rough like his thrusts.

There was slight hesitation before Benjamin ran his hands under the water and splashed his face. Cold against heated skin. A shiver ran down his spine. He sighed and ran his wet hands through his hair.

The man expected an answer.

“You ever think about giving this shithole a window or somethin’? Reeks like hell,” was Benjamin’s answer. In his head he vowed to never fuck in a bathroom again. He pushed against the stained door until it opened with a loud creak.  

He stumbled into what was deemed the back section of Charlie’s convenience store.

Charlie himself, shirtless with his gravelly voice, ignored Benjamin’s question and helped himself to a beer from the one of the fridges.

He tossed one over to Benjamin.

“You shouldn’t go see him.” He said.

Benjamin eyed the fridge and then his beer.

“A PBR, _really_?”

Within a second he was pushed up against a shelf of generic chips. Charlie’s breath was hot with a faint scent of cheap whiskey. Benjamin clutched his beer to stop it from falling. It might’ve been a shit beer, but it was free nonetheless.

“I’m serious, Ben. Don’t go.”

Benjamin wondered what he saw in Charlie. Was it the scruff? The corny tattoos? That angry gleam in his eyes that weirdly enough, had been replaced with a more concerned look.

“As far as I know, I came here for one thing Charlie.” Benjamin smiled. He popped opened his beer and took a long sip. “And it wasn’t to get your advice on shit that doesn’t matter to you.”

Charlie was pushed off.

On a rack of seasoned seeds and nuts hung a black leather jacket. Benjamin retrieved it with care and brushed it off with gentle hands.

Charlie called out after him. “He can take care of himself, you know.”

“I know.” Benjamin responded. He passed by the counter and took a bag of skittles.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen him anyways? Months? Years?”

“Never too late for a family reunion.” Benjamin kept walking towards the exit, wishing the feeling of Charlie’s hands would leave his body already.

“He won’t believe you,” were Charlie’s last words.

Benjamin paused at the entrance. He looked at the orange glow of the sunset. A weird feeling sank into the pit of his stomach.

He was wasting time. He downed the rest of his beer and chucked it into the trash can next to him.

“Thanks for the five minutes,” He muttered and pushed himself outside.

The air was hot and humid. His motorcycle was parked near the road. On one of the wheels sat a white fluffy cat.

“Hey you…” Benjamin smiled as he approached his bike. The cat tilted its head and meowed. It then began to purr under Benjamin’s hands.

“Soft little fella,” He chuckled as he swung a leg over the bike and settled himself into the seat. “Where did ya come from, huh?”  
The cat only purred in response.

“Don’t tell me Charlie’s your owner.”

The cat shook it’s head and meowed.  Benjamin laughed.

“Yeah, didn’t think so. You must be a stray then.”

The white cat leapt onto Benjamin’s lap.

“Oh, whoa,” Benjamin chuckled. “Sorry, buddy. I can’t take you where I’m going.”

He set the cat gently on the ground. It stood on its hind legs and pawed at his pants.

_**Meow.** _

“You sure are stubborn, aren’t you?” Benjamin raised a brow.

Suddenly the air grew thin. And for a moment, just a brief moment, everything went silent and still. Benjamin tensed. He looked up towards the horizon where the road disappeared.

There was only silence. And then there grew a pulse. Low and steady, much like the beating of his heart. Was it his heart?

Benjamin found himself frozen, staring at the horizon dripped in dark reds. Slowly, there came a soft hum. Almost like a voice. A whisper of an unknown force. It grew. Loud. Benjamin tried to move.

A loud gasp filled his ears. He shut his eyes and then.

Nothing.

He opened them and the birds could be heard chirping on the powers lines. A hot gust of wind blew in and he found his knuckles white on the hand grips.

“That was fucking weird.” He mumbled to himself. He turned back to the cat, “You okay little bud—”

The cat was gone.

The sun was setting fast.

“Fuck.” Benjamin muttered under his breath. He started up the motorcycle and headed towards the horizon.

He needed to see his brother.

* * *

 

“Why are you here, Benjamin?”

He had an answer to that, he swear he did. But he couldn’t think. It was lost somewhere in that foggy mind of his. If only he could breathe. Let some air fill his lungs and sooth away the pounding at his temples. If only he could tell the boy above him that he came here to see him. That he missed him. There were other things to be said before any of that, of course. There were excuses and apologies and long explanations. But god, that burning sensation around his throat was really getting in the way of any coherent words leaving his mouth.

That and Ezequiel’s boot.

“Why are you here?” Ezequiel asked once more and the boot pressed deeper into Benjamin’s skin. Was this going to leave a print?

He managed to choke out some coughs and rough “ah’s”.  Both of his hands were wrapped tightly around the sole of the leather boot. Full grain, he could feel it. But now was not the time to compliment his brother’s great taste in cowboy boots. Now wasn’t the time for anything besides finding a way to convince his brother to let him live.

“F-fuck, Z,” Benjamin choked out.

A new face came into view. He looked down at Benjamin with tired eyes and a wrinkled frown.

“Looks like he can’t breathe,” He said, wiping his wet hands on a rag hanging from his hip.

A droplet of water fell on Benjamin’s face.

“He can breathe just fine.” Ezequiel assured without any speck of actual concern towards the brother that struggled beneath his boot.

“Fucking h-hurts.” Benjamin sucked in another pathetic gasp of air.

“I can imagine so.” Ezequiel agreed; his voice soft and calming. To everyone else in the cantina, this may have well been a simple casual conversation between the two.  Just like any other. But no one else could detect the wolf beneath sheep’s clothing like Benjamin could. No one could see the anger in Ezequiel’s eyes. The countless words he wasn’t saying but oh, was he thinking them. And they were invisible daggers piercing Benjamin’s limbs, keeping him stuck to the ground. Useless. Guilty.

How long had it been since he saw his brother?

The wooden floor creaked under Benjamin’s writhing body. It smelled of dirt and many spilled drinks.

For as much as it hurt Benjamin to look Ezequiel in the eyes, he knew there was only one way out of this…slightly uncomfortable situation. It was a risk. It had been too long since the last time he heard his brother’s voice and stood this close before him. Apologies and excuses had their expiration dates. He was beyond that now. But perhaps he still had one trick left up his sleeve.

Ezequiel kept his eyes on him, still waiting for that answer.

Benjamin smiled and slowly released his gripped on the boot. His arms fell at his sides in surrender. There was a flicker of change in Ezequiel’s expression. A little twitch of the brow, a splash of water to the fire in his eyes.

Benjamin took this opportunity and flashed a helpless grin.

“You gonna kill your baby brother?”

Ezequiel’s raised his brows. _Ah there’s the emotion_.

“Eres un baboso.”

The boot was lifted and god how good the air felt to be back in his lungs. There was coughing, spit, and flash of dizziness as Benjamin turned and brought himself to his knees. He could hear mumbles above him. The old man bent over and looked at Benjamin through squinted eyes.

“You two really are twins.” He smirked. “I’ll get you some water.”

“Don’t worry about it, Oli.” Ezequiel hopped over the bar countertop. “He only takes whiskey or beer.”

“And occasionally tequila.” Benjamin’s voice was rough, an effect that usually only came after a night with Charlie. He rubbed soothingly at his throat.

A shot glass slid down the counter top. Benjamin took it in his hands and flopped down onto a stool.

“So which is it, today?” Ezequiel asked.

“Tequila, please.”

* * *

The sun was long gone by the time by the time Benjamin was out of words to say.

The last of the drunks were heading out. The night was dead. What do you expect on a Monday? There’s work to be done in the morning.

Benjamin’s work started at night.

He was looking at Ezequiel with caution; anxiously awaiting his response. Ezequiel was leaning forward on the counter top. He was fairly good at hiding his emotions. But Benjamin knew that the weakness to that was in his eyes. They said everything. Benjamin was far from being an expert, but he was still damn good at reading what they said.

And right now, they didn’t believe a single fucking word he said.

“Thanks for the fairytale. I wasn’t aware I needed a bedtime story from a brother I haven’t seen in years.”

Benjamin groaned and ran his hands anxiously through his hair.

“Fucking hell, Z. I’m telling you the truth!”

He was losing patience. And time.

Ezequiel hadn’t a care in the world. He laughed bitterly.

“Three years and I let you come back into my cantina to tell me some ridiculous bullshit.”

“Z, I’m sorry I left. But what I’m telling you now—”

“Is BULLSHIT.” Ezequiel slammed his hands on the counter top. He was glaring in a way Benjamin hadn’t seen before. There was anger, an emotion he knew. But there was also hurt. Benjamin quickly looked away.

There was a howling wind sliding across the large windows near the entrance.  Benjamin felt his stomach churn.

“Fucking vampires, are you kidding me?” Ezequiel was yelling. Laughing. Cursing.

Benjamin should’ve thought this through but there wasn’t any time.

“What else did you plan on telling me? Oh wait, let me guess. The chupacabra is real, isn’t it? La Llorona too, right?”

Benjamin turned around. “It’s not a fucking joke, Ezequiel!”

“Neither is leaving for three years!”

Silence.

Benjamin wanted to look away. Guilt was his least favorite feeling. A sudden whoosh of movement gave him an excuse to dart his glance over to the entrance. The old streetlights barely gave life to the dirt road.

And then it came. That low growl. A soft whisper in the distance.

“Why did you come, Benji…” He heard Ezequiel say. His voice was back to the soothing string of notes.

“To protect you.” Benjamin’s voice was rough, anxious, loud.

The streetlight flickered and died. The road was engulfed in darkness.

Benjamin could hear his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

“When have you ever protected me?”

Another rapid movement—this time, in the form of a shadow—ran across the large windows. Did Ezequiel see that? Benjamin could barely choke out his words.

“Never. I never did.”

His eyes searched frantically across the windows and the entrance door.

Where was it?

_Where was it?_

Ezequiel sighed.

“Go home, Benjamin.”

Benjamin was breathing hard. He felt his body tense up. His eyes glued to the entrance.

“I don’t know where that is.” He forced out his words. They were wrong. He needed the right words to come out. _We have to leave Ezequiel. We have to leave, now._

Why couldn’t he say what he needed to say?

The low growl inched closer.

And closer.

Followed by swarm of hissed words. A language he couldn’t decipher. Hundreds of voices buzzing through the ground, underneath the entrance, into the dirty floorboards below his feet and into his spine until they reached his head.

“Benjamin…” Ezequiel’s voice was distant.

He felt cold hands grip his lungs and squeeze. Benjamin gasped and fell out of his seat. The growl was now surrounding him. Vibrating through his skin. He shut his eyes.

A pair of hands gripped his shoulders. The noise engulfed his senses.

And within a second.

It was back to pure silence.

Benjamin gasped for air and opened his eyes. He was on the floor, on his knees, gripping Ezequiel’s vest. Slowly, his brother’s voice came into focus.

“Benji, Benji, look at me. Are you alright?”

He felt Ezequiel’s warm hands cup his face. He was cold.

“I’m.” His throat felt sore. “I’m fine…”

The panic quickly sunk back in.

“Z—Z listen to me. We have to—” Benjamin trailed off as the lights flickered. Echoes of a cackle bounced off the walls.

The floorboards creaked. Both brothers turned their attention to the back of the cantina. To the door that led into the storage room.

Benjamin slowly stood up. He reached for the gun tucked behind his pants.

“You let any drunks into your storage room?” He asked, cautiously taking a step forward.

Ezequiel followed. “No. It should be just us.” After a pause he added, “And…and Oli.”

Benjamin looked back at his brother. The lights continued to flicker. A loud thud came from within the storage room and both pairs of eyes were back on the door.

A muffled giggle, childlike and eerie came from behind the door. Benjamin’s gun was raised.

“Oli work stock this late at night?”

“Oli shouldn’t have the key to the storage room.” Ezequiel answered.

There were sounds of scratching and growls coming from within the room. Inhuman grunts and other noises.

“Say I believed you.” Ezequiel whispered. “About this whole vampire hunting thing you do.”

“You don’t.”

“Say I do.”

“Okay. You do. What’s your point?”

The thuds were getting louder. A few bottles could be heard smashing onto the floor.

“Point is. Is that thing going to kill them?”

Benjamin turned around to find Ezequiel looking at his gun.

“It slows them down.” He said.

There was a loud hiss, followed by another bottle smashing to the ground.

“ _Then what kills them_?”

Benjamin kept his eyes on the door. He took another step forward.

“Decapitation.” He said.

“Okay.”

Benjamin’s gun was snatched out of his hands. Ezequiel aimed at the door.

“What are you doing?” Benjamin asked, cautiously watching as his brother took another step forward with the gun.

“Well you didn’t come here to sign a peace treaty with these things, did you? I’m sure you brought along an ax or something.”

“I left it with my bike.”

The lights in the cantina shut off. The only light left came from within the storage room.

Ezequiel looked at Benjamin.

“You better go get it.”


End file.
